Arne Slot's Liverpool summer evolution to begin as major Reds transfer target emerges

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Arne Slot is looking to take the step of his Liverpool 'evolution' this summer, with RB Leipzig's Yan Diomande a transfer targetOn the eve of a tired, underwhelming season for Liverpool, Arne Slot's buzzword at the AXA Training Centre stressed the need to evolve this summer.As the club get set to wave off two legendary figures in Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson, at a time when speculation persists over other similarly important players, the need to bring forth an evolution is obvious at Anfield.It's been a tough term for Slot and his players, for a myriad of reasons. From injuries and form, new players struggling to adapt and the fact that the then champions began the defence of their crown as a club in mourning have all, to various extents, contributed to the position they find themselves in on match-day 38.Avoiding defeat at home to Brentford to secure Champions League qualification in fifth is not exactly how many had this season panning out when the Reds embarked on arguably the most aggressive and ambitious transfer window in their history last summer, but this is the reality they are now faced with as Keith Andrews's side visit L4.READ MORE: Florian Wirtz explains why he 'liked' Mohamed Salah post and makes Arne Slot feelings clearREAD MORE: Arne Slot sends strong Liverpool message before critical transfer window - 'Hope nobody feels that'Slot, who has presided over 20 defeats across all competitions this season, believes key to getting fans back onside is how the squad will develop before the start of next season, saying: "We will evolve as a team, we went through a transition last summer and now these players are now longer in [the club] and it's not just about these players, the ones who were there before are now already one year of experience playing with these players."So that will naturally mean that they will evolve, especially if I take into account how many minutes our players have missed.

That does not happen next season, that will automatically evolve us straight away."Slot also spoke a couple of times on Friday about how Manchester City were able to end the campaign with a domestic cup double on the back of an impressive January transfer window, when they signed Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi for a combined fee of around £85m from Bournemouth and Crystal Palace, respectively.The Reds boss believes huge improvements can be made with astute signings and his theory will have to be proven out this summer when the club go about continuing a rebuild that started last year to the tune of around £440m.RB Leipzig's Yan Diomande is under consideration to 'succeed' Salah on the right side of the attack and Slot is determined to introduce more speed and power to his frontline, with the aim of supplying £125m Alexander Isak with more chances to prove why the club broke the bank to land him from Newcastle United on transfer deadline day.Leipzig are determined to hold on to Diomande, believing him to be one of the best emerging teenagers on the continent but figures upwards of £80m have been discussed, with the Ivory Coast attacker's agency, Roc Nation, believed to have been talking to some of Europe's biggest clubs, including Liverpool, in recent months over potential summer availability."It should be about evolving the ones we brought in last summer and the ones we've had even longer," Slot says about this summer's business. "I think there is a lot to for us to win and things we can improve compared to this season."And one of them of course is having players available but we have to do better defensively and offensively.

Hopefully signing one or two players can even accelerate that evolution."One of the problems Slot faces, however, is the dwindling reserves of patience from the club's fanbase, particularly the match-going contingent who have aired their grievances in the form of boos at times this term.After 12 Premier League defeats, Slot and his recruitment department will have to be flawless in the close-season to give them the best possible chance to restoring the faith.Slot says: "I think it makes complete sense if you are losing so many football games that no-one is happy."The fans haven't been happy a few times. We, as a staff and players, haven't been happy a lot of times, so I think our fans have been very supportive in moments where we were already struggling and we were like: 'How is it possible that we've lost this game?'"So it took [the fans] quite long before they showed their frustration and that makes complete sense because this has been a frustrating season."But, on the other hand, we also have to look on the other hand that we have the chance to qualify for the Champions League, which we can never take for granted."If last summer was something of a revolution for Liverpool as they broke their transfer record twice to sign Florian Wirtz and Isak, this time out is clearly more about evolution in Slot's eyes.FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE!